Twenty-eight days had passed in the real world since all players were trapped in *Sword Art Online*.
The air in the Aiselan Kingdom was thick with irrepressible anxiety.
In the Royal Capital Square, the crowds that had once cheered for *Sword Art Online* now gathered in silence, their faces etched with the agony of waiting. For the families of over five million people, every passing second was a lingering execution.
Meanwhile, on the ninety-ninth floor of Aincrad.
"ROAR!"
With a roar of defiance, the colossal skeletal dragon collapsed, dissolving into a flurry of scattered data fragments.
Yak, commander of the Blood Alliance Knight Order, leaned heavily on his half-shattered broadsword, gasping for breath while drenched in blood. Behind him stood the remnants of the clearing group—fewer than three hundred players. Though every one of them was battered and wounded, their eyes shone with astonishing brilliance.
